Okay then folks, here's my first recipe that I have to offer up to y'alls. Whenever I'm asked that funny little question "What's your signature dish???", this recipe is usually what comes as my reply. Personally I think it's a hard question to answer, as I have a handful of what I consider "really good" recipes I've devised - but this is one of my personal favorites. Why would I give out the recipe to my signature dish? The answer is simple really, it's not a difficult recipe and the ingredients are what makes it so simple and yet so refined. The real trick isn't putting together the ingredients, it's in executing the proper procedure for each part of the recipe - treating each ingredient as if it's just as important as last. Give this one some love.
For The Fish
1 whole red snapper, gutted
1 pinch spanish saffron
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch fleur de sel ( good sea salt or grey salt may be substituted, by I don't recommend it)
For The Aubergine of Canellinis
2 cans white cannelini beans ( of cook some from dry if you desire )
1 T minced garlic
1/4 cup diced white onion
2-3 oz dry cured chorizo
olive oil ( for frying )
3 T unsalted good quality butter
2 thyme sprigs, stems removed
2 thyme sprigs, stems removed
Sea salt to taste
For the Snapper Veloute
Bones, head, and trimmings from the Snapper
1/2 cup diced white onion
1/4 cup diced fennel bulb
3T minced garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 shots Sambucca or Ouzo
1/4 - 1/3 bottle of chablis
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
Equal parts butter and flour for a roux
Salt to taste
The Vegetable & Garnish
I like to simply roast some baby vine tomatos in olive oil with salt and pepper for this dish, they're sweet and juicy and pair well with the fish and sauce. Leave them on the vine when roasted and presenting for a natural garnish, I hate garnishes that are unrelated to the food that you're eating... there's no parsley in this dish for example, why the hell would I want a parsley sprig on my plate? Exactly. Alternately, you could take some thinly sliced chorizo and fry it in oil til crispy and stand it up in the bean puree. Or both, you choose ... you're cooking it, not me.
Procedure
Prepare your fish first. Start by filleting both sides of the fish, this is done by inserting a sharp boning of fillet knife at the dorsal fin, on one side of the spine, and pressing the side of the knife against the bones as you slice down the fish from fin to tail - then lift the end of the filet to expose the bones and to help guide you as you filet from fin to gills. To avoid this all completely, ask your friendly fish monger to do this for you ... but do tell him to scale the fish very well for you, as you will be leaving the skin on when serving it. Also, don't let him throw away the bones or head, you'll want it for your stock. Once you've filleted and THOROUGHLY scaled each side of the snapper, cut it into 5-6 oz portions. Using a sharp knife or a razor blade, score the skin of the fish width ways. Start about 1/4 of an inch away from the side of the fish, you want to leave the skin untouched at the sides ( I'm sorry I don't have pictures for this one, I promise future posts will have some ). Either way, score the skin 4-5 times on each fillet and rub them with the olive oil and saffron threads and place them on a plate or in a dish covered with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the saffron to penetrate the flesh and release it's oils.
Meanwhile, get a medium sized sauce pan and add oil with medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add your fish bones, head, and trimmings. Brown each side of the carcass ( yes, I said carcass ) and season with salt and pepper. Add the onion and fennel and cook until the onions are slightly translucent - then add the garlic and cook until slightly darker in color, but not any darker than a slight beige. De glaze the pan with lemon juice, followed by the Sambucca, and allow the alcohol to burn off and reduce by 1/3 before adding the Chablis. Add the bay leaf, a few peppercorns and the water and allow to simmer ( not boil ) for at least an hour while you prepare the rest of the components to the meal. When ready, strain the stock and discard the bones and other ingredients - keeping only the stock.
For the bean puree, dice the onion and garlic and set aside while a saute pan comes up to heat with some oil. Dice the chorizo and add it to the pan first, cooking until its slightly browned and then add the onion - til translucence, and then the garlic. Once the garlic is cooked, open the cans of beans and drain and rinse them well - make sure there isn't excess water, and then add them to the pan and cook until they begin to break down. Once the beans are mashing easily with a spoon, transfer the mixture to a high powered blender and pulse until it begins to mesh. Set the blender to puree, slowly add the butter one tablespoon at a time and allow it to emulsify with the mixture. Season with sea salt ( or the fleur de sel if you're feeling ritzy ), pulse to incorporate. Remove from the blender and fold in the thyme leaves. Set aside, hot.
Making a roux is simple, cooking it long enough but not too long is the trick. Bring a saute pan up to medium heat and, in equal parts, butter until it melts followed by flour. Stir the mixture together to form a paste and cook it 5-8 minutes, or until "blonde" in color. The roux should have a slightly nutty aroma and flavor. Set aside to cool.
Take the vine tomatoes, drizzle them with olive oil and season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Either pan roast them stove top or place them in your oven at 375 degrees until the skins just start to pucker. Set aside, hot.
Bring a non-stick pan to medium-high heat with some good olive oil and remove the snapper from the fridge. Lightly dredge the skin side of the snapper with some flour if you desire ( but it's not required to achieve crispy skin, it just makes crispy skin easier to achieve for a first timer). Place the fillets skin side down in the pan, making sure there's enough oil to appropriately pan fry the fish. When the flesh begins to change from glossy to opaque, pay special attention to how far up the "opaque" flesh goes - when it's 3/4 the way up from the skin it's time to flip the fish for a final 2-3 minutes. The skin should be golden and crispy with nice saffron red tint. When the fish done, remove it from the pan and each fillet on a paper towel to absorb excess oils and to allow the fish to rest (reserve the oils in the pan, but pour them off into a bowl ). De glaze the pan you cooked the fish in with stock you made, bring it to a simmer and then slowly add a bit of the roux you made until it begins to thicken and make a sauce. The sauce should be just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
To plate, ladle a circle of sauce into the center of a large plate or shallow bowl and top it with a portion of the bean puree. Take the snapper fillet and place it atop the bean puree, remove the tomatoes from the oven and place a vine of 3-4 tomatoes to the side of the beans. Take the fleur de sel and sprinkle, as to season the dish, on the fish fillet. Garnishing could be left at that, or you could do something completely different if you desire - be creative, it's what makes cooking enjoyable after all.
I don't do "freu freu" food, it's elegant yet simple and the ingredients speak for themselves. The first step to becoming a good cook, even if you just want to be a good home cook, is to learn to appreciate quality ingredients that taste good on their own and don't need much done to them at all and let them be what makes the dish good. Don't over complicate things with clashing flavors, wild spices, 4 different herbs, or whatever - food doesn't need to have an ingredient list that's 20 items long to be delicious. I'll post the food I did at my last catering event in my next entry, I have pictures for them and I think you may enjoy them. I'll also post some more simple recipes sometime soon.
Prepare your fish first. Start by filleting both sides of the fish, this is done by inserting a sharp boning of fillet knife at the dorsal fin, on one side of the spine, and pressing the side of the knife against the bones as you slice down the fish from fin to tail - then lift the end of the filet to expose the bones and to help guide you as you filet from fin to gills. To avoid this all completely, ask your friendly fish monger to do this for you ... but do tell him to scale the fish very well for you, as you will be leaving the skin on when serving it. Also, don't let him throw away the bones or head, you'll want it for your stock. Once you've filleted and THOROUGHLY scaled each side of the snapper, cut it into 5-6 oz portions. Using a sharp knife or a razor blade, score the skin of the fish width ways. Start about 1/4 of an inch away from the side of the fish, you want to leave the skin untouched at the sides ( I'm sorry I don't have pictures for this one, I promise future posts will have some ). Either way, score the skin 4-5 times on each fillet and rub them with the olive oil and saffron threads and place them on a plate or in a dish covered with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the saffron to penetrate the flesh and release it's oils.
Meanwhile, get a medium sized sauce pan and add oil with medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add your fish bones, head, and trimmings. Brown each side of the carcass ( yes, I said carcass ) and season with salt and pepper. Add the onion and fennel and cook until the onions are slightly translucent - then add the garlic and cook until slightly darker in color, but not any darker than a slight beige. De glaze the pan with lemon juice, followed by the Sambucca, and allow the alcohol to burn off and reduce by 1/3 before adding the Chablis. Add the bay leaf, a few peppercorns and the water and allow to simmer ( not boil ) for at least an hour while you prepare the rest of the components to the meal. When ready, strain the stock and discard the bones and other ingredients - keeping only the stock.
For the bean puree, dice the onion and garlic and set aside while a saute pan comes up to heat with some oil. Dice the chorizo and add it to the pan first, cooking until its slightly browned and then add the onion - til translucence, and then the garlic. Once the garlic is cooked, open the cans of beans and drain and rinse them well - make sure there isn't excess water, and then add them to the pan and cook until they begin to break down. Once the beans are mashing easily with a spoon, transfer the mixture to a high powered blender and pulse until it begins to mesh. Set the blender to puree, slowly add the butter one tablespoon at a time and allow it to emulsify with the mixture. Season with sea salt ( or the fleur de sel if you're feeling ritzy ), pulse to incorporate. Remove from the blender and fold in the thyme leaves. Set aside, hot.
Making a roux is simple, cooking it long enough but not too long is the trick. Bring a saute pan up to medium heat and, in equal parts, butter until it melts followed by flour. Stir the mixture together to form a paste and cook it 5-8 minutes, or until "blonde" in color. The roux should have a slightly nutty aroma and flavor. Set aside to cool.
Take the vine tomatoes, drizzle them with olive oil and season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Either pan roast them stove top or place them in your oven at 375 degrees until the skins just start to pucker. Set aside, hot.
Bring a non-stick pan to medium-high heat with some good olive oil and remove the snapper from the fridge. Lightly dredge the skin side of the snapper with some flour if you desire ( but it's not required to achieve crispy skin, it just makes crispy skin easier to achieve for a first timer). Place the fillets skin side down in the pan, making sure there's enough oil to appropriately pan fry the fish. When the flesh begins to change from glossy to opaque, pay special attention to how far up the "opaque" flesh goes - when it's 3/4 the way up from the skin it's time to flip the fish for a final 2-3 minutes. The skin should be golden and crispy with nice saffron red tint. When the fish done, remove it from the pan and each fillet on a paper towel to absorb excess oils and to allow the fish to rest (reserve the oils in the pan, but pour them off into a bowl ). De glaze the pan you cooked the fish in with stock you made, bring it to a simmer and then slowly add a bit of the roux you made until it begins to thicken and make a sauce. The sauce should be just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
To plate, ladle a circle of sauce into the center of a large plate or shallow bowl and top it with a portion of the bean puree. Take the snapper fillet and place it atop the bean puree, remove the tomatoes from the oven and place a vine of 3-4 tomatoes to the side of the beans. Take the fleur de sel and sprinkle, as to season the dish, on the fish fillet. Garnishing could be left at that, or you could do something completely different if you desire - be creative, it's what makes cooking enjoyable after all.
I don't do "freu freu" food, it's elegant yet simple and the ingredients speak for themselves. The first step to becoming a good cook, even if you just want to be a good home cook, is to learn to appreciate quality ingredients that taste good on their own and don't need much done to them at all and let them be what makes the dish good. Don't over complicate things with clashing flavors, wild spices, 4 different herbs, or whatever - food doesn't need to have an ingredient list that's 20 items long to be delicious. I'll post the food I did at my last catering event in my next entry, I have pictures for them and I think you may enjoy them. I'll also post some more simple recipes sometime soon.
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